The Scholar Anomaly
by It'sElementaryMyDearWatson18
Summary: AU, Dr. Sheldon Cooper is a brilliant physics professor at the university Penny is attending. They develop a unique bond over the course of time that blossoms into something more than either of them expected. Ch6 Update: Dr. Cooper has an ahem, 'interesting' dream and realizes that he doesn't understand what to do about his feelings for Penny. Thanks for the support!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey!**

**So I'll make this short and sweet. This is an Alternate Universe fic, where Sheldon is a physics professor and Penny is a college student. It's sort of OOC, because Penny is smarter than she appears in the show, and Sheldon is a bit different as well. Sorry :(**

**But read on, if you wish! :) **

**Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Just a writer who got bored on a rainy Tuesday, refusing to study for a quiz she has tomorrow. PROCRASTINATION FTW! **

_**And it's just like the ocean under the moon  
Well that's the same as the emotion that I get from you  
You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah  
Gimme your heart make it real  
Or else forget about it**_

_**~Smooth, **_**Santana**

**X**

"Can any of you people who wrongly consider yourselves quote upon quote 'good students', perhaps tell me what the ancient Greek word for physics is?" Asked young professor.

He was strolling between the rows of the immense classroom, rolling up his sleeves on his navy blue dress shirt, under which, where if you knew where to look and looked hard enough, you might just catch a glimpse of some sort of superhero t-shirt bleeding though the thin material. Despite this 'secret' of his, if you couple this blue button up with a pair of black dress slacks, and you have the perfect ensemble for the tall, lanky man.

It surely hadn't been picked out by the professor himself, for he preferred the checkered plaid suits with crazy patterned dress shirts and brown leather shoes. Perhaps a female colleague or his close friend and roommate, Dr. Leonard Hofstader who had forced him to wear it, since after all, it was the first day of school; better not alert potential students to the true nature of the insanity that was Dr. Cooper. However, despite whatever the man held against normal, everyday suits it looked insanely good on his thin figure, and it also brought out the navy inside his brilliant blue irises.

"If sex wore crazy, it'd look like that." One of the female students had remarked, when she saw the physics professor enter the class room that morning. Several of the fellow girls had agreed.

He cleared his throat and surveyed his classroom, blue eyes scanning through rows of bored and slightly frightened looking students as he asked the question that would hopefully kick-start their physics discussion. When no one replied, he repeated the question. This repetition wasn't out of lack of ability to hear the asked inquiry, it was simply something the young, thirty-three year old physics professor did when his students failed to answer one of his questions. And it had a 50/50 chance of evoking a response from the fatigued, glassy eyed students in the humid classroom.

"Hello?" He drawled, beginning to become annoyed with the lack of reply. "I can hear you all converting oxygen and expelling it as carbon dioxide." He said, putting one hand on a slim hip as he turned to address the back of the classroom. "I know you're still there." He said, pointedly looking at a few cowering first-year freshman in the back corner.

Finally, one person placed a single, slightly tanned and elegant hand into the air. She cleared her throat to grab his attention. She straightened herself in her seat between two beefy looking idiots, who were simply in the class because she had suggested it to them. And possibly due to the added prospect of late night 'study dates' with the beautiful woman, where they might be able to convince the fun-loving blonde to participate in something more engaging than review.

He whipped around at the sound of the tiny noise. This ability to hear even the slightest of sounds earned him the nickname of 'Vulcan-eared' by some of the students who were hopelessly in love with the cult-favorite.

"Yes. Thank you, miss.." He said, meandering through the desks towards the young, blonde haired woman on the opposite side of the classroom. He came to stand before her, so that he could properly hear her response.

"Um, Jackson. Penelope Jackson." She said, caught off guard by his question. She was surprised that he had asked her what her name was. According to previous students who were giving her advice on how to survive the supposed 'insane son-of-a-bitch's' class before the lecture had begun, he had referred to the old students as 'you', or 'incompetent individual.' Never once had he bothered to learn any of their names.

"Thank you, Ms. Jackson, proceed with your response."

She seemed sort of flustered, yet he couldn't understand why. He hadn't asked her anything challenging, or even remotely inappropriate, as it wasn't on his list of phrases his colleague, Dr. Hofstader, had made of things the professor should not say or ask his students. He had had an unfortunate incident prior, involving a young woman who had told the dean that Dr. Cooper had 'inadvertently called her a whore,' and he didn't wish to get into trouble once more for offending another student.

"Physis." She said, staring straight at him.

"And it's meaning?" He prompted, crossing his arms over his chest and arching an eyebrow.

"Uhhh…." She faltered, looking downwards. She knotted her fingers on top of her desk, and her brows crinkled together in concentration.

Another gentleman's hand shot up into the air, and the professor made his way over to the student's desk.

"Wait, I wasn't finished!" The young lady called. The professor stopped his walking and turned back to the girl. She had boldly called him out on his abandonment of her while she was talking, and although he'd never admit it publicly, it slightly impressed him.

"You can't just walk away from me, I was talking to you!" She nearly shouted, irritated. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down defiantly. Her mouth quirked into a semi-frown semi-smile, as she was attempting to look angry, but was none-the-less pleased with herself for regaining his attention.

Several students turned to look at her in surprise and awe. No one ever spoke aloud, much less contradicted the professor in Dr. Cooper's physics course, unless prompted. Hell, no one ever really wanted to, for fear of a lecture involving phrases like 'your incompetence amuses me,' or simply something along the lines of 'don't speak aloud, you'll lower the IQ of the entire campus.' .

However, this young woman's boldness intrigued him. He cleared his throat, preparing to excuse himself for his blunder, and reprimand her for not simply telling him the answer. "Well, by means of your long and drawn out 'uhhhh,' I'd assumed that you had ceased answering my question. Therefore, I had departed to find someone who could find the companion answer to the question I had asked. Excuse my interruption, Ms. Jackson, proceed." He said, simply, walking back towards her, his arms behind his back.

"It means nature." She said, this time with confidence. "Which is why physics is the science of nature involving the study of matter." She finished her response with a broad smirk.

"Also correct, Ms. Jackson. Satisfactory work." He said, with a short incline of his head. He moved to get back to the front of the class room to click to the next slide.

Penny counted this as a personal victory. Dr. Cooper hardly doled out compliments to anyone. Ever.

The gentleman to her left, Kurt, held up his hand to give her a high-five. She slapped it heartily, ignoring the glare of several onlooking students; they were simply jealous that Dr. Cooper had given her a compliment.

"As Ms. Jackson pointed out, Physics is, in fact, the science of nature involving the study of matter." He said, grabbing a red marker and beginning to write neatly on the empty white reflective board. He wrote Physics, and underneath it, wrote the point Penny had brought up. She found herself fighting back a stupid grin.

"Physics is divided into different sub-categories of sciences one can choose to study. Although some are rather complicated, perhaps too far advance for some of us in here." He said, bluntly. He wasn't afraid to call attention to those bullshitting their intelligence, and he also refused to 'sugarcoat' things, preferring to outwardly tell his students his opinions. He said things just as they were perceived.

He wrote a few more things on the board. Then he sprung, full spiel mode, into a new lecture about these items he had written.

"I will begin with a brief history of how physics came to be. Now..." His voice slowly fell out of tune. Her mind took over.

While her hand darted across the page at the pace of a marathon runner, her brain sprinted a hundred million miles an hour elsewhere. She was watching him, observing the man, the brilliant man before him, with the accuracy of a criminal profiler. She was harmlessly checking out the young teacher. _Just for fun, no worries. People do this stuff all the time. _She'd assured herself.

He spoke with a bit of a drawl, perhaps he was from down south somewhere, like Texas or Louisiana. While his face remained as impassive as a stone, his navy blue eyes widened and danced a bit before he said something he believed to be very important, giving him a more childish and human aura. His hands flew through the air, and only stopped once to pick up a huge volume of some sort of science-y literature. His muscles in his forearm tightened and loosened as he did this, proving that although he seemed thin as a twig, he had a bit of muscle definition about him. He possessed the fingers of a piano player; thin, pale, and long, which skimmed the pages before finding the passage he wished to share with the class, an important task written in Latin, which he read flawlessly.

He always spoke with an air of superiority, which Penny could understand why some might find him irritating. He often made brash and borderline (no scratch that definitely) insulting comments when students answered his questions with a response that was incorrect. And he was just sometimes outwardly rude. Not to mention that he was somewhat socially awkward, what one may refer to as a 'nerd' in high school. He had made two references to the British show _Doctor Who_, and three two various superheros whom he could talk about rather animatedly. Penny made a mental note to research these things so that she would know what in God's name he was talking about.

At one point during the lecture, he caught her staring. He held her gaze for a fraction of a minute before turning his back to walk to the board once more. She couldn't help but drop her stare to check out his ass. _Hey! It might be the last time I get to see him in normal people clothes! I've seen those plaid suits and they are hideous! _She reasoned with herself internally.

Sure the guy was a loon who probably belonged locked away in a mental institution, but there was something about this beautifully minded man that she found intriguing. She'd go almost as far as saying that he was somewhat...captivating.

Someone nudged her out of her daydreaming. It was Kurt, he huge muscled idiotic fellow she'd agreed to go out with at some low point in her life. She glanced at him, but seeing as it wasn't him who need her attention, she directed her gaze back to the front of the room Dr. Cooper stood with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Ms. Jackson? I believe I asked you a question which you have failed to give me a response to." He said, his voice colored with annoyance.

"Huh?" She said. _Oh good one Penny. __  
_

Several of the students around her snickered, including the other well muscled jock to her right, Chris. She elbowed him deftly in the gut, doubtedly doing any real damage. But he still grunted and frowned at her.

"I'm sorry. Do you mind repeating the question, Professor?" She said, catching herself. _Oh good, finally a full, intelligent sentence out of ya! _

He gave her a roll of his eyes. "Perhaps you should pay closer attention, Ms. Jackson. You might be missing important information for the questionnaire on the lecture notes tomorrow morning." He said. Several of the students groaned; 'questionnaire' was Cooper Code for 'quiz'. _Fan-freaking-tastic. _

He sighed. "I inquired if you could, if it pleases you, inform the class one of the 'father's, if you will, of physics." He asked.

_If it pleases you? _"Um, that would be Sir Issac Newton." She responded, as intelligently as she could muster. Her dignity was still on the floor somewhere with that dazzling response of 'huh'.

If anyone knew Penelope Jackson at all, it wouldn't be for her brilliance. At least, that what she thought. Her newfound intelligence could all be credited to her 'tutor.' Another physicist, like Dr. Cooper.

She had secretly dated a fellow professor of Dr. Cooper's, another physics teacher, Dr. Leonard Hofstader. When she had learned that she had received Dr. Cooper as her physics professor, she had gone to Leonard and had asked him for advice as to how to go about passing this class. They had agreed to meet on a weekly basis to discuss the material Dr. Cooper had lectured about during the class period. He had given her an amazingly helpful list of the do's and dont's of the Cooper Class. He'd told her ways to impress the professor, and to efficiently stay afloat while other students were drowning. He'd proved to be a very valuable asset to her, and she had much to thank him for.

"Correct." He said, bowing his head once more. "Thank you, Ms. Jackson."

His lecture continued for another miserable hour and a half. During that time period, half the class had dozed off behind their laptops, a fourth were playing Words With Friends on their iPhones, and the last fourth were updating their twitter statuses to _OMG Dr. Crazy Cooper's class is straight from hell..#killmenow_. But not Penny. She'd more than a fair share of questions, some more difficult than the previous ones, secretly impressing her new professor. He'd found himself suppressing a smile when she had blatantly contradicted another student's (wrong) answer, (he'd been napping on a pile of textbooks, and had only awakened to give a half-assed answer before succumbing to sweet slumber once again) and replaced it her own correct one.

He'd never admit to anyone other than himself that he had perhaps, found the first student that showed actual signs of intelligence in the field of physics. He had been slightly surprised that he had found it in a young, beautiful, blonde haired woman sitting in the third row of his classroom.

That, even he had trouble admitting to himself.

X

At the end of the class, he had dismissed the students with a simple 'Thank you, you are free to depart.' Half of them were out the door before he'd even completed his sentence. That didn't seem to faze him. Nor did the fact that one of the male students flipped Dr. Cooper the bird when his back was turned to erase the board clean of his hand-written notes. He began to gather up his papers and notebooks from around the classroom facility.

The other half lingered, and among that crowed was Penelope Jackson, surrounded by several leering gentleman. She was laughing, and engaging in conversation with one of the taller, bulkier men. He found himself staring at her as she giggled, and couldn't pull himself away, even as she caught him in the act with a smile. They maintained eye contact for a few heartbeats before he dropped his gaze to the large volume on the left hand corner of his desk. She'd excused herself from the guys, and slowly sauntered down the steps towards Dr. Cooper's desk area. The men watched her go with blatant appreciation for her backside. He was no longer looking at her, nor paying her any attention, instead gathering up his laptop and various cords to deposit into his beige and brown shoulder strap bag.

He didn't look up as she approached. "Is there something that you were in need of, Ms. Jackson?" He said, looking only as far as her hip-level, as she was clad in denim pants, accompanied by a top of a peachy shade, which ended just below her bellybutton and revealed a strip of neatly toned skin. As he glanced up to meet her gaze, he found that it also provided any ogling gentleman with a nice view of the tops of her breasts. He carefully avoided his gaze from that point and swallowed thickly.

"Yeah. About that Ms. Jackson thing." She said, putting her palms on the edge of his desk and leaning forwards slightly, intruding on his personal space. He leaned back slightly, and she didn't notice. "It's just Penny. Ms. Jackson's my sister, she's a lawyer. A damn good one at that. But I'm not her, so don't call me that." She said, simply.

He looked at her, deciding if she was serious or not. He went with the former. "I normally do not call my students by their first name, however, seeing as though you took the time to persuade me, I will consider referring to you as Penny." He said, looking away again. He zipped up his bag and snapped it over his shoulder in one swift motion. He grabbed the black suit jacket from the back of his chair and draped it across one arm. He took a key from his pocket and locked the desk drawers one by one, checking to make sure they were secure each time. Noticing that the student was still there, he looked up once more.

"Was there something further?" He inquired, wondering what more she could possibly ask him.

She giggled. "Have a good rest of the day, Dr. Cooper." She called, and walked out the door.

He watched her go.

X

So there you go, first chapter. If it sucks, I'm sorry. Just let me know, and I'll stop writing. But if it's decent, tell me that too, and I'll continue :)

Thanks so much, have a lovely day people of Fanfiction!

PS, anyone else besides me catch that new TNT show Perception? If not, it was epic, you should check it out :)!

MISTAKES ALL BELONG TO ME! Yay!

Drop me a review :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the great response to the first chapter! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Sorry for the day between updates, I expected to have it finished yesterday, but unfortunately something got in the way! I will strive for daily updates from now on :)**

**Cheers**

_**I dive in at the deep end **_  
_**She'd become my best friend **_  
_**I wanna love you **_  
_**But I don't know if I can **_  
_**I know something is broken **_  
_**And I'm trying to fix it **_  
_**Trying to repair it **_  
_**Any way I can **_

_**(**_**Coldplay, _X & Y) _**

X

Penny lay, sprawled out on her purplely colored comforter, surrounded by little stacks of multi-colored index cards. Her white pajama clad legs were dangling in the air and Mozart seeped through the iHome speakers. Apparently listening to classical music while studying improved brain function and ability to remember information, but Penny wasn't seeing it; she felt her eyelids beginning to droop, the slow, soft music putting her right to sleep.

She forced herself awake, reaching down to the hardwood floor to pick up a cup of black coffee she'd picked up while getting some fresh air during a study break. She had to focus long enough to get through the cards she had made; she had to earn a high grade on tomorrow morning's quiz to maintain her status as semi-intelligent in Dr. Cooper's classroom. Her fingers sped through the next stack, her brain struggling to keep up with the words and definitions flashing through her vision.

Suddenly the door to her room opened, and in walked her roommate, Bernadette, trailed by her creepy boyfriend, Howard Wolowitz. Howard had been know as a slimy pervert to the majority of the ladies on campus (all of whom, he'd hit on at one point or another), but since he'd begun to seriously date Bernadette, his immature behavior had slowly begun to subside and he was beginning to become a man with whom you could sit in a room and have a civil conversation with. _Thank God for Bernadette..._

"Hey Penny! Whatcha studying?" Chirped the perky blonde. She shut the door and smoothed her disheveled clothing. Penny internally vomited at the thought of what had caused her clothes to become so messy. _Ew, God, why?_

"Some lecture note terms from Dr. Cooper's class." She said, rolling her eyes to indicate annoyance. She carefully avoided the fact that she was actually studying to continue to impress the young, blue-eyed professor.

Howard groaned. "You've got Cooper? That guy belongs in a looney bin. Or the state penitentiary." He said, grabbing a bottle of water from the girls' fridge, opening it, and taking a large swig. "I mean, come on. That guy's a total nutcase." He said, walking over to sit on the couch. "You can obviously agree."

Penny managed a giggle. "Oh come on, he's not that bad..." She said, subtly defending the professor.

Howard scoffed. "Not that bad?" He put his water down. "Last year, that guy told me that my job, engineering, was just the slow younger brother of physics."

Penny fought the urge to laugh. "Sorry?" She said, not quite knowing how to respond.

Bernadette sat down and patted her boyfriend on the arm. "Oh you know he was just joking, Howie." She said, setting a cup of tea down on the table for herself and Penny. Penny nodded gratefully at her roommate and took a cautious sip. It was delicious, a raspberry herbal blend.

Howard snorted in derision. "No he wasn't! That's just one of the many bad things about Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper." He said, waving his hands in the air.

Now that got Penny intrigued. "So what are some of the others?" She inquired, setting her mug down. "Just so I can know for future reference." She said quickly.

Howard sighed. "Where to begin? He's frankly a rude son-of-a-bitch who insults you without actually knowing it's insulting to you. Plus he doesn't understand sarcasm. Or sex." He said, rolling his eyes.

_Sex huh? _"What do you mean he doesn't understand sex?" She asked.

Howard chuckled. "It means exactly what it sounds like. The man doesn't get the point of sex. He informed me last month that he tried it, and quote 'Didn't see what all the fuss was about.'" He air quoted the phrase.

Penny nearly choked on her tea. Bernadette spoke for her friend while she was attempting to expel the scalding liquid from her throat. "What do you mean he tried it?"

Howard raised an eyebrow. "There was this girl, Amy Farrah Fowler. She's like the female version of him. They 'dated', if you can even call it that, over the summer and one night, he got crazy drunk and had some weird sex with Amy. Apparently. It frankly nauseates me even speaking about it." Howard said, making a face and grabbing his stomach.

_Drunken sex? Dr. Cooper? _"That sounds horrible." She said, her voice still hoarse from coughing. Bernadette handed her some water and she accepted it with a thankful nod. She took a gulp.

Howard shuddered. "You didn't have to hear about it from the man himself." He said.

"So, Dr. Cooper doesn't understand the goodness of sex." She said, some wheels turning in her head.

Howard nodded. "Yeah. Why the sudden interest in Sheldon Cooper? The man's a walking praying mantis." He said, leaning back into the couch.

Penny grinned wickedly. "Howard, you're a betting man, aren't you?" She said, twisting the cap on the water bottle, mischievously.

"Yes?" He replied, arching an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" He asked.

Penny chuckled. "I bet you I can seduce Dr. Cooper by the end of the semester." She stated, confidently.

Bernadette went wide-eyed. "Penny! He's your professor! And I don't even know if he actually likes women!" She squeaked.

Howard waved his girlfriend aside. "And by seduce, do you mean like leave him hanging or actually go all the way?" He asked, intrigued by the money and the fact that this beautiful woman was about to make a fool out of herself; Sheldon Cooper couldn't be seduced. He was, after all, the Homo Novus.

She looked him dead in the eye. "Your call." She said.

Howard laughed darkly. "Oh, then you have your answer. Wager?"

"How about one hundred dollars?" She said.

He held out his hand. "You've got yourself a deal. One hundred dollars if you can seduce Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper."

She took it gingerly, looking at him defiantly. "May the odds be ever in your favor."

"Live long and prosper." Howard said as their hands parted.

May the best man win.

X

The next morning, Penny roused early, despite the fact that she'd studied into the wee hours of the morning, completely worried about the upcoming quiz. She didn't know how hard it would be or what material Dr. Cooper would decide to put on the quiz. Her nerves were frayed and her energy shot; it was going to be a long day.

She put on a pot of coffee before she got into the shower; best to have some sort of pick me up to save this day straight from hell. She stepped in as soon as she felt the water and deemed it warm enough to wash in. She quizzed herself on terms as she lathered her body up with the most sensual soap and shampoo she had, in the hopes that Dr. Cooper might be lured in by her lovely scent. She made sure to shave her legs, and got out to apply sweet smelling lotion to her body. She blew her blonde hair dry and let it fall around her shoulders.

She applied basic makeup, careful not to over do it, but sticking to the eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara and blush combination. She added a bit of lip gloss on second thought. _Strawberry flavored._

Next obstacle was the wardrobe. She picked out her tightest jeans, but went with a simple sleeveless light blue shirt, not showing too much cleavage. After all, she didn't want to intimidate the man on the first day of the bet.

She hurried about her room to gather up her notes before making a dash for the coffee machine to pour herself a cup of fresh brew. She inhaled her first mug before making herself another cup in a travel sized container she could take to class with her. She grabbed her bag and sprinted out the door, she was already minutes behind.

She jogged across campus as delicately as possible as to not spill the beverage. She made it there in the nick of time, Dr. Cooper was just about to shut the door.

"Ah, Ms. Jackson. You're nearly tardy." He said, as she approached the door.

"I thought we talked about this Dr. Cooper, it's just Penny." She said, flashing a grin. She made sure to brush past him in all the right places as she entered the classroom. She took note victoriously at his quick intake of breath and sudden stiffness.

He cleared his throat. "Take your seat, Penny, we're about to begin." He said, avoiding her gaze.

_Point one for Jackson. Benjamin Franklin, here I come. _

She slunk across the room to the last available seat, dead center in the front row. _Not to worry, at least he gets a nice view. _

She glanced back at the two meatheads who'd been chatting her up yesterday and sent them the death glare for failing to save her a seat.

Dr. Cooper grabbed a folder of neatly stacked papers from his bag and strode to the end of the first row. "Your questionnaires for today. I trust you all reviewed the appropriate material for it." He said, as he handed the brown haired girl at the left end of the first row her quiz. She looked like she was about to pass out or throw up. Or both.

He made his way down the row. When he reached her desk, he set the booklet looking thing on top of the table and uttered a 'Good luck' to the class. He glanced at her for a fleeting moment and moved on.

Penny smiled to herself.

X

Two grueling hours later, Penny got up from the seat, shook out her leg as it had fallen asleep, cracked her back, and headed to Dr. Cooper's desk to hand in the quiz. She was one of the last one's left in the classroom, everyone had departed quickly after turning theirs in. Some looked like they were about to weep and some just high-fived each other with the exchange of 'I'm so damn screwed.'

She placed her booklet on top of all the others and turned on her heel, sauntering back to her desk.

"Ms. Jackson?" He called, catching her attention. She fought back a grin.

She spun around. "Penny." She corrected. _This is getting old. _

He sighed and shifted his gaze downwards. "Penny, you took a substantial amount of time on this quiz. I trust it wasn't too challenging." He said, seriously. He looked up at her.

_Too challenging would be the understatement of the year. I'm freaking lucky if I get a D. _But she shook her head, pushing those thoughts away. "I just wanted to make sure I'd selected the correct answers." She said, lying through her teeth. She put on a smile.

He nodded and picked up the booklets, placing some of them back into the navy blue folder. "Good. I hope that you do adequately." He said, in a voice almost a whisper. "You are dismissed, Penny." He said, clicking a pen and scribbling something down on a legal pad of yellow paper.

"Thank you, Professor." She said, timidly waiting for a reply.

She got none, as he had already returned to some very important work.

She grabbed her bag and hurried out.

When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw that he didn't watch her go.

Perhaps this would be more difficult than she though.

X

Sorry, this seems kinda like a filler chapter to me. If it seems like that to you too, just tell me. I can take it. :)

So drop me a review if you so choose! Thanks to everybody's continued support of the chapter. You all deserve very large cookies.

Things will begin to pick up in the next chapter! WARNING, THERE WILL EVENTUALLY BE SEX IF YOU WANT IT TO HAPPEN. JUST LET ME KNOW!

Have a lovely day! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to everyone for the amazing response to these past two chapters!**

**So I think the group consensus is to let them have sex at some point! Never fear, it will happen! But if you don't want this to happen, just let me know...I'll see what I can do or come up with something different...**

**Cheers! **

_**You put me on a line  
And hung me out to dry  
And darling that's when I  
Decided to go to see you  
You cut me down to size  
And opened up my eyes  
Made me realize  
What I could not see**_

**(_Swallowed in the Sea, _****Coldplay**)

X

She stepped out of the classroom and took a deep breath. Her brain was a muddled mess from all of the information she'd just been required to pull out of it. She was exhausted, and just wanted to go back to her dorm, burrow under her covers and take a nice long nap before her next class. She sighed at the prospect of a beautiful hot shower, followed by a mug of tea, and a snooze.

She opened the heavy wooden door to the science wing of the college and stepped out into the bright afternoon sun. She was momentarily struck by blindness, having been cooped up in a dimly lit room for the past two hours. She blinked a couple of times to re-adjust her vision.

"Ms...Excuse me, Penny?" Someone said, cautiously.

She recognized the voice, interlaced with a barely noticeable Southern twang. Plus only one professor consistently referred to as Ms. Jackson, despite her protests. But in this current situation, she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating from over exhaustion or actually in reality.

Her blurry sight subsided and she came into focus. A stoic looking Dr. Cooper stood before her, his nimble hands clasped behind his back. He was dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and some khakis. The cuffs of the dress shirt had been rolled up to reveal his nice looking forearms, with a light dusting of brown hair coating the skin there. There was a green vein that pulsed slightly there, as his hands behind his back moved. She quickly realized she was staring, and cast her gaze elsewhere.

"Yes sir?" She replied, in a high, squeaky like voice. She cursed herself internally, clearing her throat.

"I just wanted to speak to you about your questionnaire." He said, his piercing blue eyes meeting her green ones. She'd never noticed just how lovely those irises were. Like little pools of reflective water. _Focus, Penny. He's speaking! And lay off the poetry..._

She chuckled. "I hope that's a good thing." She said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

He didn't smile. "It is. I would just like to congratulate you on getting the highest grade in the class. You received a ninety-seven, which is fairly impressive considering that I hardly ever give out the A grade. As they say in the Jewish culture, 'Mazel Tov." He said. Throughout this little spiel, his face had remained impassive.

Penny wasn't sure what life form possessed her body in the next few minutes, but whoever they were, she would like to personally beam up into their little spaceship and kick all of their asses.

She laughed excitedly and threw her arms around Dr. Cooper's neck, jumping up and down like a kindergartner.

He remained stiff and unmoving, refusing to return the gesture. "Penny, I do not enjoy touching of any kind." He said, his arms at his side.

She untangled her arms and came down from her tiptoes. She blushed embarrassedly. "I'm sorry, Dr. Cooper. I don't know what came over me." She said, in a whisper.

He nodded quickly. "Well, attempt to control your roaring emotions Penny." He said, a pinkish hue tinting his cheeks as well. "Perhaps there are other ways to show gratitude." He said. He paused and checked his watch. "I must depart, I have a staff meeting. Goodbye, Ms. Jackson, I wish you a pleasant evening." He closed, before turning and heading in the opposite direction.

"It's Penny!" She called, watching him go.

And with that, he stopped, turned around, and offered her a small, albeit awkward, smile.

"Penny." He whispered.

She was breathless.

X

"I need some advice..." She said, storming into Dr. Leonard Hofstader's office.

The young, dwarf-like professor was seated behind a massive mahogany desk that drew even more attention to his short stature. He was skimming through a thick volume, chewing at the ends of his glasses as he read. When she spoke, he glanced up, squinted, and put back on his glasses.

"Hey Penny. How's class going? Has he driven you insane yet?" He asked, shutting the book and standing up. He'd actually managed to look like an adult today in a grey linen suit with a sky blue dress shirt underneath. His curly hair was rumpled, and his glasses slightly askew. He straightened them.

_Well yes, but not for the reason you may think... _She thought to herself before replying, "That's actually what I came here to talk to you about..." She said, twisting her hands in apprehension. This conversation was going to be inevitably awkward for both parties.

"You want to talk about the class?" He said, leaning back against the huge desk.

"No, I want to talk about Shel- I mean Dr. Cooper." She said, plopping herself down in one of the brown leather chairs directly facing the desk.

"Need more tips on how to handle his class?" He asked, disappearing behind the brown mass once more.

"No-" She began.

"Cause I've got a whole list..." He said, interrupting her as he rummaged through a drawer to produce a thick yellow folder.

She chuckled. "That's very kind. But I've come here for a sort of...different reason." She said, casting her gaze downwards in embarrassment.

"Oh?" He said, looking at her intently.

"I need to know how to seduce him." She said, the words flying out of her mouth at the speed of light. _Better to pull off the bandaid quickly than slowly. _She smiled apologetically.

He just sat there for a moment, opened mouthed. _Oh shit. _ She thought to herself.

"I'm sorry, do I need to lay off the LSD, or did you just say you want to seduce Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper." He said.

"It's just for a bet." She said, in a whisper. As if that softened anything...

"Seduce. Sheldon Cooper." He said, not quite grasping it.

"Yes." She bowed her head.

"The Sheldon-" He said once more.

"Yes! Sheldon _fucking _Cooper!" She shouted, angered. "It's not that crazy." She said, lowering her voice back to a whisper when she realized the door was still open.

Leonard, still shell shocked, didn't move. So she rose from her seat and shut it quickly, ignoring the stares from passerbyers. She returned to her seat.

"No, but he certainly is." He muttered. "I don't understand. How did you get roped into a bet with the terms being seducing Sheldon Cooper?" He said, regaining his composure.

"Howard bet me after telling me of how he slept with Amy." She relayed.

"Oh. Howard. Now I see it." He said. The two gentleman had been friends for a couple of years now. Leonard was well aware of the man's fascination with sex. And gambling. Especially when the two were interconnected.

She nodded.

"So what exactly do you have to do?" He inquired. "Just so I can know what we're working with." He said, playing off his curiosity. _Bullshit. _

_"_I may or may not have to...sleep with him." She admitted, with as much disgust as she could fake. She failed to mention how intrigued at the prospect of bedding Dr. Cooper she was. In fact, it was borderline crazy how much she'd fantasized about it in the past twenty-four hours...

He snorted. "What's the damage if you lose?" He asked.

"Hundred bucks." She said.

"Might as well pay Howard now. Sheldon Cooper doesn't have sex with anyone. The only time he did he was beyond wasted, and they did it with all their clothes on. If he didn't have an eidetic memory, I doubt he would have remembered the sex with Amy in the first place." Leonard said, discouragingly.

"Yeah well, I don't have that kind of money. So if you could help me that would be fantastic." She said, shortly.

"I don't know how I can be of any help to you. I mean come on, the guy's a freaking loon. Do you know he doesn't even like to be touched?"

She winced, reliving the painful encounter earlier that afternoon. "That must have been some alcohol he drank." She said, resignedly.

Leonard nodded in agreement. "I think he did like eight or nine shots." He said, remembering the night they'd convinced Dr. Cooper to come out to this premier party for a movie coming out. Somehow they'd all managed to score invites to this exclusive bash, but it probably had to do with the fact that one of the women on the board had a major crush on Dr. Cooper. _What do women see in him?_

"So is there anything that might help me? Okay so what does he like?" She said, looking for some sort of baseline to begin with.

Leonard sighed and scratched his head. "Uhhh, Star Trek, Spock especially."

"The 'Live long and prosper' guy right?" She said, moving her fingers to make the symbol for the phrase.

Leonard chuckled. "That's him." He crossed his arms. "Uhh, he's also way into Doctor Who."

Penny's eyes widened. "My roommate's obsessed with that show! I've seen a few episodes and it's not half bad. Maybe I can get her to teach me about it." She said, pulling a pad of paper and pencil from her bag and scribbling a few things down. She glanced up. "Anything else?" She was beginning to seem desperate.

"Of course, his true wife is science. He's married to his work, and there's not much that can come between him and it." He said. "I'm sorry, Penny, there's not much that I can tell you." He apologized.

Penny sighed. "Thanks for the help anyways, Leonard." She said, gathering her things and prepping to leave. "I'll come by if I have any other questions." She moved for the door.

"Bye, Penny. Good luck." He said, leering at her in her tight jeans as she walked away. "Hey, you maybe want to grab dinner-"

She slammed the door before she could hear the rest of that proposal.

She was so over him.

X

Dr. Sheldon Cooper was having trouble sleeping that night.

Usually nothing was able to throw off his Circadian Rhythm, but tonight, his thoughts weighed heavily on his mind.

He reviewed the day's events, taking special note of the scenes that involved a certain blonde haired student of his.

_You must cease this, this isn't proper. _He scolded himself.

He shifted under his black comforter, his vampire-in-a-coffin like position becoming uncomfortable for him. Deciding he needed to take action against his insomnia, he threw off the covers and stepped into the chilly air of his apartment.

He entered his living space, heading for the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. Normally he'd be against this, for fear of waking during the night to use the bathroom, but tonight he was desperate for sleep.

He passed by his various white boards; some covered with lesson plans, others filled with equations, and one final white one with a single name written on it.

_Penny. _

He was attempting to work out who she was, and why she'd taken up so much of his brain space in the past forty-eight hours. Never before had he felt such a strong pull towards another human being, not even his twin sister, Missy. She was simply an unsolvable problem, and the prospect of never being able to find a solution to her was beyond frightening to him.

He paused, as he made his way back to his room, in front of this board. He took a sip of water, and stared at the near empty piece of film laminate.

_Penny_.

It appeared as though she'd crossed his mind and never left it.

Why her?

He was supposed to be Homo Novus, and be above all forms of attraction. He wasn't supposed to take notice of pretty women. He wasn't supposed to feel any sort of sexual arousal at her glorious smile.

But he'd managed to both of these last points in a mere two days. _Curse my body's natural reaction. _

He'd never felt this way before with anyone. Not even with Amy Farrah Fowler, the woman he'd wound up in bed with a few months back, after a night filled with heavy drinking and other questionable activities. He hadn't remembered all of the finer points of the experience, nor was he too eager to repeat it, but he could no longer say that he hasn't taken a woman to bed. And now that he was pondering it, he was regretful that he'd engaged in sexual intercourse at all. She, after all, was not the woman he'd ever call his 'girlfriend'.

These thoughts overwhelmed the professor as he continued to stare blankly at the board. He set down the water glass, and uncapped a green marker. He gazed at the word, but was unsure of what to write under it. He was unsure of anything regarding her at all, frankly.

And that notion scared him.

X

So that's chapter trois. I will turn up the heat in later chapter, scouts honor!

Drop me a review, it's up to you!

Have a great day! :)


	4. Chapter 4

So sorry for the late update! I had to study for a stupid quiz...Gosh, why did I take this class?

I hope that this will give some of you who have been requesting for me to 'turn up the heat' what you were looking for. If you want more, you know what to do! (hint: review ;))

Thanks for the continued support, you all are angels! (not the weeping ones of course ;))

Cheers!

_**'Cause she's an uptown, get-around, anything-goes girl,**_  
_**She's a hardcore, candy-store, gimme-some-more girl,**_

_**(She's So Mean,**_** Matchbox Twenty)**

**X**

Dr. Cooper woke up bleary eyed, with tension in his joints. He blinked his blue eyes a couple of times, swiping his hands at them to rid them of the morning blindness.

When everything came back into focus, he took a moment to survey his surroundings.

He still had his clothes on, his black pajama pants with the Star Trek symbol on the cuff of the pant leg and plain white t-shirt he'd put on the night before after his shower. He ran his hands over his sleepy body; yes, all the pieces were still intact.

He was still in his apartment on campus. The walls were still white, and the furniture was all still in it's proper places. He still had a television, and his laptop was still on the desk to the far left of him, near his bedroom.

He could see into his room, the comforter rumpled as if someone had left it suddenly, and a bedside lamps still on. He'd been grading the remainder of the quizzes before he'd attempted to fall asleep.

These observations brought him to his first question of the day. _Why wasn't he in the bedroom? _

He bolted upright when he realized that he'd fallen asleep on his couch (on his spot to the far right of course), with green marker in his hand. He was facing the 'Penny' board.

He rubbed the remaining fatigue from his eyes and looked at what he'd written.

It was a series of complex equations, each with a single arrow pointing to a question mark. There were several words pertaining to feelings also written in green ink, such as confusion or 'unnamed emotion'.

He pushed himself up off of the couch, taking care to fold the navy blanket and rearrange the pillows he'd moussed the previous night during his slumber.

He started to his room when something dreadful caught his eye.

It was the clock on the wall, designed to look like a fob watch from the BBC's _Doctor Who. _

The clock's hands stood at seven and six.

It dawned upon him and he shut his eyes in horror.

_He was late for class._

He forced his limbs to move at top speed, flying around the apartment at an abnormally fast pace.

He dashed into the bathroom, where he squirted blue mint flavored toothpaste on his yellow toothbrush and stuck it in his mouth.

He sprinted for his closet, where he pulled off his t-shirt and pants, throwing a light blue shirt around his shoulders and sticking his feet into a pair of black dress trousers, forgoing a belt for the sake of time.

He ran the toothbrush along his teeth a couple of times, spat into the sink, swirled a Dixie cup's worth of mouthwash around in his mouth and spat again, rinsing the sink with bit of water. He splashed a bit onto his face as well, ignoring the fact that he'd developed a bit of stubble around his cheeks and chin. Shaving could wait.

He gathered his papers and stuck them into the brown messenger bag his twin sister had given him as a present the previous Christmas, despite his aversion (and mention to Missy) to gift giving. He flung the bag over his shoulder, stuffed his feet into some shoes, and ran out the door and down the hall.

He took the steps two at a time, wondering how in the world Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, the poster boy for punctuality, managed to be late on the third day of school. He'd never been late in his live. He was even born early!

He finally made it outside, sprinted across campus at the speed of light, and yanked open the heavy oak door, which he might have taken a moment to admire his strength if he had the time; that door was massive. He felt an unfamiliar breeze on his chest, but was too preoccupied to think twice about it.

He threw open the door to his classroom and hurried inside.

"Good morning students, forgive me for my tardiness." He said, near breathless.

He set his things down on the desk and rooted around in his bag for the lesson plan he'd created the night before during his battle with insomnia.

He heard a couple of chuckles from behind him, but ignored them. He opened the folder with the date marked clearly on it, and pulled the finished quizzes from the silver paperclip.

"I've marked your questionnaires. I shall return them to you know." He said, walking to the end of the first row.

"Dr. Cooper?" A feminine voice rang out. He knew it was familiar, but his addled mind couldn't quite place it. _What on Earth was the issue today? _ He questioned himself, internally.

He glanced up, his vision still foggy. "Yes?" He replied.

His eyes fell on Penny Jackson, sitting in the front row, about five chairs to his right. She offered him a polite smile, but there was humor in her eyes. "Your shirt's unbuttoned." She said, bluntly, pointing at him.

He glanced down, puzzled, the quizzes still in his hand. His shirt, was in fact, unbuttoned. His chest was naked to the entire classroom. He felt his cheeks go pink in embarrassment. _How could he have forgotten that? _

"Why, yes. Yes it is." He said, returning to his desk. Frazzled, he set the papers down and moved his hands to the buttons, threading the pearly white circles through the holes at record pace. A couple of the ones towards the top were missing, for some unknown reason. They left the top of his chest exposed and it was already deteriorating his wearing patience.

"Well, pardon my blunder. Let me finish passing back your questionnaires, which by the way were terrible in marks, save a select few. Please improve your review habits before Friday's questionnaire." He scolded, rolling his eyes as he handed a failing grade to a black haired kid on the front row.

The class let out a collective groan, which he promptly paid no mind.

He finally arrived at Penny's desk, and handed her her quiz. "Satisfactory work, Ms...Penny.' He said, a hint of a smile playing along the edges of his lips.

Her face cracked into a blossoming grin which left him wondering what the heck was wrong with him. He shut his eyes once more, and passed back the next awful quiz without a word.

Something was inhibiting his ability to function properly today.

And it didn't take a mastermind to figure out that the demon's name was Penny.

X

When Dr. Cooper entered the classroom that Wednesday, he'd look like one of those models, primed to look like they'd just rolled out of bed and into the ad. Except none of them could ever possibly measure up to the perfection that was her Physics professor this fine morning.

If those girls in the back weren't awake, they sure as hell were now!

His dark hair was throughly messy, sticking out in every direction, and utterly adorable.

His cheeks were covered with a stubble that gave his overall appearance a rugged look. He'd give any Texan cowboy a run for his money.

And to top off this utterly sexy appearance, his light blue shirt was undone all the way to his waist, to reveal a pale chest. Granted, he was no Channing Tatum when it came to muscular appearance, yet there was definitely some strong definition there. She could see every blessed rib and protruding hip bone on the lanky man's body. And she was enjoying every single solitary second of it.

She almost didn't want to ruin this perfect view, but someone was bound to point it out, and hell if it wasn't going to be her.

So she'd raised her hand and asked her question, feeling a little jolt surge through her when those navy eyes finally turned in her direction.

She'd pointed out his wardrobe malfunction, and the professor had hastily corrected it, but had left the top buttons undone.

She, and frankly several other females in the classroom, were thinking the same thing. _He looked like sex in dress pants. _

And damn, she was loving it.

But the kicker was when he finally got around to giving her her questionnaire.

"Satisfactory work, Ms...Penny." He said, with a hint of a smile. She'd had to resist the urge to scream and dance around the classroom.

And he'd even managed not to call her Ms. Jackson this time. _Well, sorta. But he stopped himself. _

Perhaps she could win this bet after all.

X

After a class, which was hell on Earth for Dr. Cooper, he'd had to restrain himself for bolting for the classroom doors with the majority of his students.

He sank back into the chair and reviewed the day's various and assorted mistakes, starting with falling asleep on his couch at three in the morning, and progressing to walking into his class naked from the waist up.

If there was some sort of God up there, he'd have prayed for Him to take his life now.

But he continued on, gathering his things from around his desk and placing them neatly into his bag.

That's when someone knocked on the edge of his desk.

"Dr. Cooper?" That same feminine voice from earlier in the morning called out again. _Ms. Jackson. _

He glanced up. "Penny, I apologize, but I am already running behind for a meeting with a coworker to discuss future plans. May we postpone this encounter to a later date?" He asked, looking upwards to her emerald eyes.

She rolled her eyes swiftly. "Well you don't want to go to your meeting looking like that." She said, commandment flowing into her tone.

"Penny, I can assure you that I've already taken care of today's clothing issues." He said, shortly, as he rose from his chair.

"Stupid, you wouldn't have been able to see that one." She said, walking forwards until they were almost touching.

"Excuse me, Ms. Jackson? Did you just insult my intelligence." He snapped, becoming annoyed with her.

She rolled her eyes again. "Jesus you're just like freaking Spock sometime. I _mean_, you've got green marker on your face, and it's been there since the beginning of class." She said. She licked her thumb and placed her hand on his shoulder as she rose to her tiptoes so she could reach his face. "Hold still."

He moved to get away from her, but failed to see the leg of his chair sticking out from underneath his desk. The movement sent him sprawling backwards, causing Penny to go toppling down with him. He landed with her weight on top of him fully, and his hands resting at the waistline of her white shorts to steady her.

She swiped her hand across his cheek, where the mark must have been, and smirked. "Now if anyone found us like this, Dr. Cooper, you'd have a lot of explaining to do." She said in a low and seductive tone. Her grin spread wide across her face and she leaned forwards to plant a kiss in the center of his forehead. She wriggled herself down his body at an agonizing pace, until she could stand herself upwards. She gave him one parting wink, and departed. He had to force himself to look away from her swinging hips, and ignore the sudden hardening in his trousers.

That woman would be the death of him.

X

Oooh! How's that for spicing things up?

Things will continue to get progressively sexual tension-y until I can find a good and proper spot to stick the sex in. Any suggestions?

Review, s'il vous plaits!

Have a great day!

xo


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: You guys are simply fantastic! I love you all to pieces for your continued support!

To answer a few quick reviews:

tjenkins91: to answer your question about age: Penny's sort of old for the school, and you'll find that out later on that she decided to go back to school. I know, it would be weird to have her be like eighteen and him be thirty three! Eww... That's an arrest waiting to happen!

Guest: One who said no sex yet: Don't worry, I'm not going to have it just yet, I feel as though it would be best to wait a few chapters to ramp up the sexual tension! In fact, I've already got an idea of how I'm going about doing the sex so...wait and see! ;)

Guest: Said he or she loved a scruffy Sheldon: Who doesn't? That would be so hot...;) Oh how a girl can dream!

So on with it! :)

PS: SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN UP THROUGH SEASON SIX...TERRIBLY SORRY ABOUT THAT!

_You and I go hard, at each other like we going to war_  
_You and I go rough, we keep throwing things and slammin' the door_  
_You and I get so, damn dysfunctional we stopped keeping score_  
_You and I get sick, yah I know that we can't do this no more_  
_But baby there you again, there you again making me love you_  
_Yeah I stopped using my head, using my head let it all go_  
_Got you stuck on my body, on my body like a tattoo_

(One More Night, Maroon 5)

**X **

Dr. Cooper lay, sprawled out, on the cool tiled floor for several minutes, attempting to reign in the desire that coursed through his veins as hot as lava. He'd never experienced a sensation such as this one in his entire existence, including the wild night he'd spent with Amy Farrah Fowler. Every cell in his body felt like it's been torched with a piping hot brand, fresh from the burning fire. He didn't yet possess enough strength to move from his current state on the floor.

He'd been intimate with a woman before, yet this seemed like a sexual encounter on a whole new level. The way her body had fit perfectly on top of his, the way the delicate skin of her back had felt on his fingertips, the way her body had created a delicious friction on his lower portion of his body, all of these things would be permanently filed away in his beautiful brain for further investigation.

He felt beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead and his mind raced. His heart pumped at an alarming pace, and he was beginning to feel slightly nauseous.

As a scientist, Dr. Cooper was well aware of the more primitive urges every red-blooded male possessed. However, he'd come to believe that he was well above in comparison to those fellow gentlemen who constantly took women to bed to fulfill their urgent desires. Sure, he'd had experience with biological necessities, such as the one he was experiencing at this very moment, but the last one had occurred when he was a young lad of fifteen, back when he was in Germany as a visiting professor. Never had those been as severe as this one. She was turning his evolution against him, she ran like poison in his blood.

Something must be done to prevent future issues such as the one that had arisen today, metaphorically and physically speaking. The woman must no longer distract him from his duties as a professor and as a contributor to the sciences. She must be restrained, and he intended to take every measure to do so. She would no longer affect him.

This was the first of many lies the professor would tell himself.

X

He laid on the floor for a few more moments, before he decided that it would appear silly and unprofessional if anyone entered the classroom to visit him. He must rise above this incident, dissect it to learn what went wrong, and improve for future situations.

When he moved to sit up, he found he'd been struck by the plague of dizziness. His impeccably cleaned classroom spun at an uncomfortable pace, making Dr. Cooper nearly ill to his stomach. He rested his head between his knees, fighting the urge to curse (which he rarely did) when he found that there was still a blossoming arousal in his black dress pants. He simply couldn't deal with it right now.

Someone knocked on the wooden door, and Dr. Cooper glanced up, his vision still blurry. It was a humanoid shape, presumably female due to stature and the way in which the person knocked. When his eyes decided they'd focus once more, he looked at the intruder.

His colleague, Dr. Leonard Hofstader, stood twisting his fingers around the fabric of his shirtsleeve and staring at the floor. _Well. _He thought to himself. _Virtually what I'd deduced. He shares his size with that of an average ten year old little girl._

"Dr Hofstader. How can I be of service to you?" He inquired, pushing himself up from the floor with his hands. His stomach twisted painfully, but the walls managed to stay where they were intended to be.

Leonard glanced at the professor, in his untidy state, and fought the urge to smile. He looked like a typical guy who'd just been caught going down on his girlfriend. His blue eyes were darkened, with something one usually associated with lust. His dark hair was messy, and his clothes disheveled. But the proof was in the pants, clearly showing the signs that Dr. Cooper had just had an experience with some young lady. There was an evident bulge in the black trousers. A smirk passed over the doctor's face.

"Did I interrupt something, Dr. Cooper?" He asked, his tone suggestive.

The physicist's cheeks reddened substantially, and Leonard knew that he'd been correct in his speculations.

"Nothing that couldn't be abandoned." He merely replied, as if it weren't anything special. He sat down quickly, taking refuge behind his desk chair. "Did you have a specific request, Dr. Hofstader, or did you merely want to be in the presence of an actual accomplished scientist?" He inquired sharply. He began scribbling on a sheet of notebook paper.

"I know about Penny, Sheldon." He said, in a whisper, leaning over his desk.

Dr. Cooper's ears turned a fragile shade of pink. "I am unfamiliar with the topic that you are speaking about." He replied, frostily.

"I'd say you've developed a little, how shall we say, crush? On Ms. Penny Jackson?" Leonard said, teasingly. "I'm sure your pants would agree."

Dr. Cooper's eyes snapped up. "Poppycock." He spat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some very important matters to tend to." He said, gesturing to the piece of paper on which he'd just written a series of words.

Leonard grabbed hold of the sheet of paper before Dr. Cooper could stop him. "Sheldon, this is the plot line for the new Star Trek movie." He said pointing to the first paragraph. Then he tapped the second. "And this is the dialogue from the last scene of the finale of _Firefly_, so if this is the important matter on which you appeared to be working on tirelessly, than perhaps that 'I'm so much better than you' persona is bullshit." He said, tossing the piece of paper back to the doctor behind the desk.

Dr. Cooper gritted his teeth. "My intelligence is certainly not 'bullshit' as you so eloquently put it, _Dr. Hofstader." _Dr. Cooper spat the curse as if it was vile. "And my encounters with the female by the name of Penelope Jackson are none of your concern. Now if you will please get out of my office, it would be most greatly appreciated." He said, pointing one long finger towards the door.

Leonard slammed his palms down on the desk. "Oh, like hell it's my concern. For Christ's Sakes, I dated the woman for a couple of months and was the one who convinced her to come back to college, for you information. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have developed this little infatuation with her at all!" Leonard roared. "So don't you dare tell me it isn't any of my concern!" He said, glaring menacingly at Dr. Cooper.

Enraged, Dr. Cooper rose to his full height from behind the desk, towering a couple of feet above the little man. "Do not speak to me in that tone." He said, barely above a forceful whisper. "Leave, Dr. Hofstader."

Leonard stared at him opened mouthed. Then he snapped it shut, gave him one parting harsh look before spitting out, "With pleasure." He turned on his heel, and headed straight for the door.

Before he opened it to leave, he turned back around one final time. "Just please, don't hurt her." He said, seriously.

Dr. Cooper looked at him. "I don't have any intention to do anything of the sort, Leonard. In fact I fully intend to end whatever is happening before it begins. I do not wish to engage in any sort of relationship with anyone at this time, or perhaps ever. Thank you, Leonard for your concern, but Ms. Jackson and I do not and will not have any more problems in the future." He nodded his head once, and seated himself once more.

Leonard sighed, and departed. He headed in the direction of Penny's dorm, hoping to explain how Sheldon felt before the doctor could himself.

He'd just hoped he hadn't screwed things up too badly.

X

The 'incident' with Dr. Cooper may have been one of the hottest things she'd ever experienced, and they hadn't even had sex yet!

It'd been an accident really, the chair (that blessed little chair), had caused the good doctor to trip and fall. Predicting his oncoming tumble, Dr. Cooper had grabbed onto the only semi-sturdy thing that he could in that spilt second; her. She had come crashing down to the floor with him, and what a beautiful fall from glory it had been.

They'd lain there, fitting perfectly together, for a couple of heart beats, before she'd gone and opened her big mouth and ruined the moment. _Damn her talkative nature! _

Okay, perhaps the kiss on the forehead was pushing it a bit, but at least she hadn't kissed him full on! No she'd have to wait on that, wait for the perfect moment to drop that little bomb on him.

Oh, but how she'd wanted to do it then! His lips were so red, and she almost hadn't been able to restrain herself when he ran his pink tongue across them to moisten them a bit. It was such a simple movement, but when he did it, it'd sent tingles of desire rippling throughout her body. _God she needed a cold shower! _

She knew the attraction had been reciprocated. She'd seen the desire in his eyes, despite his desperate attempts to shield it from her view. She'd felt it, for God's sake! It was right there, at her midsection!

And it had been glorious.

Now that Penny knew she'd giving him a tiny sampling of what's to come, she knew she was ready to play down the game for a little while, waiting for the perfect moment to strike again. But the question was how? And which tactic to use?

She'd gotten a little white board of her own, and had begun to draw up plans as to how to continue the war of seduction of Sheldon Cooper.

She'd forced Bernadette to show her all six series of the BBC's _Doctor Who_ over a span of a few days. She'd have to admit, it wasn't a half bad show. She'd laughed and cried along with the characters, (especially when the Doctor left Rose behind at Bad Wolf Bay) and had over all enjoyed herself more than she'd imagined she would.

The same could be said when she stayed up late to screen the cult favorite, _Star Trek_, starring the extremely gorgeous Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, and Zachary Quinto as the stoic Mr. Spock. As the movie progressed, Penny couldn't help but giggle at the similarities between her physics professor and the Vulcan commander. Now she understood why the doctor had enjoyed the films so much; he could essentially be the half man, half Vulcan's twin if he grew pointy ears, said phrases like 'It's only logical,' and bled green. She wasn't convinced her teacher wasn't a Vulcan trapped in a human world. Dr. Cooper could easily fit into Mr. Spock's world.

After watching these two favorites of Dr. Cooper's, she'd begun to understand why he had such an attraction to the film and the show. The professor favored characters, like the Doctor and Commander Spock, who were alone in the world and majorly differed from every other human. Both possessed superior intellect, and both possessed only a slight ability to care for another human being; Mr. Spock with Uhura and the Doctor with Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy, Rory and River Song. However, despite the Doctor's companions and Mr. Spock love intrest, at the end of the day, both men were alone. Eventually all companions left, were trapped in parallel universes, or had their memories wiped, and God only knows what will happen to Uhura. Perhaps she'll get killed off by some intergalactic space zombie.

The notion that both these men had no one to turn when all is said and done broke Penny's heart a bit, as she realized that Sheldon also fit into that category. Most of her other professors went home to families or husbands or wives each evening, but Dr. Cooper only retreated to his quiet little apartment, where he'd continue to live his life alone. She knew that he'd grown accustomed to the silence and loneliness, and according to Leonard, he quite enjoyed it. But no one deserved to live and die alone. It just wasn't fair.

And Penny was ready to be his companion or his lieutenant.

She wanted to end the silence and aloneness.

She wanted to be the person he'd come home to at night, and spend the rest of his life with.

More than anything, she simply wanted to be with him.

X

That was kinda sappy there at the end, but eh, tis a love story that gets us all!

Now with Sheldon wanting nothing to do, and Penny finally realizing her true feelings...where will things go from here?

I will try to fall into a more steady updating pattern, whether it be daily or every other day! :)

Happy reading, and if you feel compelled, drop me a review.

I'm thinking about sex in a couple chapters, like maybe by chapter eight? Or nine? Perhaps?

Let me know, I'm always opened to suggestions.

Have a fantastic day! Until next time!

xo


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello readers!**

**I am _so _terribly sorry about the lateness of the update! **

**My brother's daughter (so my niece) spilt her orange juice all over my freaking computer keys, and so I'm now missing keys R F and V. So I basically wrote about half of this on my phone, but then my brother offered me his pre-college computer. So I finally got up and working on my brother's old dinosaur of a computer to write this. It only took me three days to do so, so that's why I'm deeply sorry. Like extremely. **

**So this update, I'm hoping, will be super epic so that I can make up for the crappiness of waiting three (or maybe four?) days for an update. AGAIN SO SORRY! :(  
**

**This chapter is kinda borderline 'M', so just watch it. They're not quite having sex yet, but…welll you'll seeee!**

**So again SUPER SOOORRRRYYYYYYY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!  
**

**PS: Can you guys keep the victims and the families of the shooting in Colorado in your thoughts or prayers? It was a tragic incident with horrifying results, and I can only imagine how deeply those families and people are damaged from this terrible crime. So if you could just do that, it would mean a lot to me as well as those people! Thanks a bunch!  
**

**Alright I'm done now! ON WITH IT!  
**

**_I see you rising and you're falling_**  
**_ And I try to look away_**  
**_ But I'm frozen in the darkness_**  
**_ You're a burning cabaret_**

**_(Turn Me On,_ The Fray)**

**X  
**

_Dr. Cooper sat, back straightened, in his leather swiveling chair inside his darkened office, reviewing experiment notes by a muted lamp. The sleeves of his light blue dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows, his hair standing up on top of his head from running his hands through it in frustration as he worked. Papers were scattered haphazardly across almost all surfaces in the spacious office, tables, desks, bookshelves, and unfortunately, the floor were all coated in various leaflets. He had run into a bit of a brick wall on the project he was completing for the university, and he'd vowed that he wouldn't rest until he'd found the error that had sent his experiment into a downwards spiral. He picked up one sheet and glanced over it before making a few notes on a pad of legal paper. He scratched his head and squinted as he attempted to make out the sloppy print of his fellow professor and aid to the project, Dr. Leonard Hofstader. It was nothing like his elegant cursive, something that his mother had forced upon him as a boy, and he'd never given up._

_He whisked a manila folder from his messenger sack, and pulling the paperclip loose to gain access to the papers, he began scanning the contents. He reached into a brown paper bag in his tote on the floor and pulled out a shiny red apple. He cleaned gently with a napkin before biting into it, adn chewing heartily; he hadn't eaten since the previous night, both breakfast and lunch slipping his mind. Now with hunger being the primary focus of his thoughts, he decided to eat something so that he could turn his concentration onto the more important tasks at hand._

_He picked up his pen again, and tapped it against his lips as he read over the equations he'd put together, searching for any hints of oversight or failure. He scribbled a few more things on his pad of paper.  
_

_A soft knock on the heavy wooden door startled the professor from his thoughts. He glanced up in shock, believing for a moment that he may be hallucinating from the lack of sleep but the the knocks came again, in a gentle sequence of four. Someone was actually there.  
_

_He cleared his throat, "Come in." he stated, remaining behind his desk, seeing no need to rise from behind his desk.  
_

_Someone stepped into his office, but Dr. Cooper didn't bother to glance up. He was too busy to be interrupted, and he was sure whoever was there would identify themselves soon enough.  
_

_"Good evening, Dr. Copper." A feminine voice called in a quiet tone._

_He looked up from his work in surprise; he rarely receive visitors and when he did, it was typically Dr. Hofstafer or perhaps his Indian acquaintance, Dr. Koothrappali who aids the professor occasionally in his work. And never once were any of the visitor's female, except for Gloria, the janitor, who stopped by late into the evening to clean Dr. Cooper's room.  
_

_But on this particular night, one Ms. Penny Jackson, of his early morning physics class, graced the lonely office of Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper with her presence. He gulped, remembering his promise he'd made to himself to stay away from the woman._

_"Ms. Jackson." He greeted in a neutral tone. "Did you have an urgent matter that immediately required my assistance?" He asked, looking her up and down quickly._

_She appeared to be dressed in a long white lab coat that didn't leave much to one's imagination, as it was unbuttoned far enough down that Dr. Cooper could see the beautiful space between her ample breasts. Her lovely tanned legs were exposed, and her feet were clad in a pair of red stilettos. He couldn't help but stare, and when he reached her emerald green eyes, falling into them as her prisoner, he began to feel like a kid caught doing something he knows he shouldn't. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably and dropped his gaze, feeling his cheeks redden in embarrassment._

_She marched over to his desk and planted herself on a non-paper infested edge, closer to Dr. Copper than he would have appreciated. He tried to think of ways to move away from her without being rude. He came up empty.  
_

_She shook her head and tutted. "What have we been over professor? My name's Penny." She looked him over and licked her red lips. She leaned in closer, and Dr. Cooper caught a whiff of her scent, a glorious aroma of vanilla and strawberries. Something complete and utterly Penny, and he knew that smell would haunt him for the remainder of his days.  
_

_"Penny, if you would please make your inquiry or request and depart, I would greatly appr-" He began but was cut off._

_"You." She said, a seductive smile playing around the edges of her mouth. It was an wonderfully sexy look, and Dr. Cooper's body was beginning to take notice. She placed a hand on his exposed forearm, fingers tracing patterns up and down his flesh there. He trembled slightly.  
_

_His eyes went to where her hand connected with his arm before his blue gaze darted up to meet her green one. "Beg your pardon?" He asked, confusion outweighing the dislike to be touched.  
_

_She smirked and sighed. She removed her hand and walked closer to him. She paused for a moment, as if assessing him, before swinging herself onto his lap, her legs on either side of the chair. She placed her hands on his chest and fiddled with his black tie._

___His blue eyes followed her hands, and finally looked at her, looking rather like a scared puppy. _He squirmed underneath her, but causing a wonderful friction rather than aiding in an escape. His body was beginning to react, despite his protestations.  


_He cleared his throat, "Ms. Jackson, I'm not exactly sure what your endgame is here, but I'd certainly prefer it if you removed yourself from my lap. You are aware of my aversion to physical contact." He said, swallowing hard._

_She laughed softly. "Professor, professor, professor. Endgame? Well you'll just have to wait and see." She said, a smirk still plastered across her features._

_Her fingers trailed their way up his body, until they were on either sides of his face. She stroked the slight bit of hair there, and smiled to herself. She quickly lowered her mouth onto his and kissed him delicately.  
_

_His lips were rigid against hers and his eyes were widened in shock. But he couldn't move away or pull back, it was as if her lips were a magnetic force, attracting him ._

_To Penny, she didn't mind the resistance. His lips and mouth tasted like peppermint, with a bit of apple? And the stubble on his face scratched across her skin in a desirable fashion.  
_

_He didn't move away, and when her tongue skated across his lips, he reacted with a moan before he could stop himself.  
_

_Without breaking the kiss, she moved his hands to her hips, where they remained, frozen. He was unsure what to do with the situation, so he moved his hands up to her shoulders and tried to gently push her away. He succeeded, and when he looked into her eyes, he noticed the disappointment, but promptly ignored it._

_"Ms. Jackson, how dare you come into my office, late at night, and harass me like this." He said, his tone cold and eyes burned icily.  
_

_All she could do was smile. "It isn't harassment if both parties enjoy it. I'm enjoying it, and judging by this..." She said, as she rolled her hips experimentally against his. The tightness in his trousers increased and she arched her eyebrows. "I'd say you were as well. Is that a marker in your pocket, Dr. Cooper? Or are you just happy to see me?" She said, before kissing him once more.  
_

_She nibbled along his bottom lip, her tongue poking it's way into his mouth. It was getting harder to push her away.  
_

I don't like this_. He told himself. _I do **not** enjoy this. My body is betraying me. _He chanted, over and over.  
_

_As if she could read his thoughts, she rocked her lower half back and forth a few times, attempting to prove her point. She reached for his hands once more, and placed them on either sides of her torso, up near her breasts. The cotton of her lab coat was the only thing holding back the smoldering heat of her body from the palms of his hands.  
_

_His fingers, as if moving on their own accord, skimmed the sides of her breasts. Penny made a noise of approval, and urged him to continue.  
_

_His consciousness took over once more and he moved away from her, picking up her nearly weightless form and placing her atop a pile of papers on his desk. He broke their connection and placed his hands behind his back. He took a step away from her, seeing as though he was positioned in between her spread legs.  
_

_"Ms. Jackson, we cannot engage any further. We've both already broken several rules. Several of my personal rules as well" He said, his voice husky with lust that had seeped in. He hated the way he sounded. "Please leave, Ms. Jackson." There wasn't much force behind that command.  
_

_Penny didn't look at all phased. "Dr. Cooper, if I may interject here, might I propose an experiment?" She inquired, raising an index finger in the air as if to make a point.  
_

_This intrigued him. "Might I ask on what?" He inquired.  
_

_"One of biological nature, exploring the natural method of pleasure between two human beings." She stated, as gingerly as she could. She'd rehearsed this part just in case the professor didn't like her direct approach. _

_He shifted from foot to foot. "Are you suggesting coitus, Ms. Jackson?"  
_

_"Coitus?" She said, a smile forming once more. Of course he'd go for the technical term.  
_

_He rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Sex." He said, hating the slang word for the topic. "You're proposing we have sex."  
_

_She grinned. "Perhaps. Just for scientific research and purposes." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.  
_

_The good doctor rolled his eyes, and began to turn down the offer, but Penny beat him too it. "Tell you what, Doc. If you do not like the experience at all, not one bit, I will drop out of your class and you will never have to see or hear from me again."  
_

_Although he'd never admit to it, he didn't quite like the notion of never seeing this woman again, or having her intellect disappear from his course. She had been the one thing keeping him sane while teaching that primarily unintelligent species of human beings, while simultaneously driving him to the point of insanity outside of class. _

_But he couldn't always resist the prospect of science. "Ms. Jackson, although I applaud you for attempting to conduct your own experiment, I can assure you, you would lose this wager." He said, arrogance coloring his voice. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her, condescendingly. "I can rise above all forms of human desire." He declared.  
_

_She giggled and gave a meaningful look to the bulge in his pants."I'm confident that I am correct in my hypothesis and predictions." She said, staring straight at him, eyes narrowed.  
_

_He sighed. "Proceed, Ms. Jackson." He found himself saying._ What on earth am I doing? _  
_

_She grinned triumphantly, and reached for his tie, yanking him forward onto her lips again. Sparks flew between their mouths and desire flooded their bodies. She pushed her tongue into his mouth once more, and he didn't protest as she skimmed her tongue against his. He fought with every fiber of his being not to cry out in response. _Well if I'm going to properly complete this experience..._ He thought.  
_

_He moved his hands to her hips and he stepped between her outstretched limbs. She smiled against him, and snaked her legs behind his slim waist and pushed herself onto him. He caught her, thankfully, and managed to keep her from falling by interlocking his fingers on the underside of her bottom, as if he was carrying an infant or small child. He hoisted her up into a proper position, surprised by his own strength to bear the weight of the woman.  
_

_He shifted his hands to the backs of her knees, allowing his more primal urges take over. Penny, on the other hand, had undone his tie and thrown it behind her as they fell back into his chair. Her finger made quick work of his buttons, and the shirt was soon being moved over his shoulder and onto the floor.  
_

_"I'm getting a sense of Déjà Vu, Dr. Cooper. Where have I seen this before?" She asked, smiling impishly as she ran a fingernail down the center of his chest to his belly button.  
_

_He shivered in response to her touch and rolled his eyes. "You aren't humorous, Penny Jackson." He said, only half annoyed.  
_

_She took his hands and placed them on the buttons of her lab coat. "My turn, Dr. Cooper." She said, stare meeting his.  
_

_He got lost in her sparkling green eyes, and he moved his hands, as if in a hypnotic trance, down the front of her lab coat, undoing the white circles from the holes as he went. He made it half way down, going at a tortuously slow pace before Penny batted his hands away and finished the job herself. Now all that was left was a pair of red silk panties concealing the beautiful world of Penny from him.  
_

_He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Penny...I" He began.  
_

_"It's alright, Dr. Cooper. Let me do this." She said, smiling gently.  
_

_She planted one last kiss onto his lips, before moving to get off of him.  
_

_His hands fell into his lap, and he watched as her fingers went to rid the last garment from her body.  
_

Dr. Cooper shot up from beneath the covers, breathing heavily. Sweat pooled on his body, his gray t-shirt damp. The front of his pajama bottoms were soaked. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair.

He felt positively disgusting, the wetness in his pants a painful reminder of the explicit dream he'd just experienced. He wanted to scream, emotions boiling around inside of him so much so that he was beginning to feel nauseous. He sat on the edge of his bed, placing his head in his hands. For one of the first times in his life, Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper was unsure what to do going forward.

His body was shaking as he pushed himself up from the bed. His vision was blurry and he felt like the world was moving in a downwards tilt. He tripped and fell over the doorway, and sat on the hardwood, pondering what to do. He felt rather awful about himself at the current moment.

He couldn't simply continue to ignore this woman, then she'd appear in his dreams, doing erotic things that would make his Christian mother have a heart attack. But he couldn't pursue her either, it would be frowned upon not to mention probably breaking several school rules, resulting in the expulsion of Penny and the firing of himself.

But for now, he had to get rid of the damning evidence.

He headed straight to the bathroom, and grabbed a few towels. He placed them over the metal bar, and switched the knob on the wall to a chilly temperature.

He pulled his t-shirt over his head, and pushed out of his wet pants and white briefs, placing them into the hamper near the door. He leaned heavily against the sink, as he attempted to rid his mind of the events of his dream. The coolness of the porcelain felt heavenly on his scorching skin. He glanced up and looked at the man the mirror showed him.

This man's face was white as a sheet, with beads of sweat forming around his hairline. His expression was pained and confused, his face haggard. The clock on the wall had read two-thirty in the morning, and with the lack of sleep the night before, Dr. Cooper was beginning to feel weary and sluggish.

The irises of his blue eyes were dilated fully, but his eyes seemed empty and hollow. There were small, purple like bruises underneath his navy eyes, reflecting the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well. _And it's her fault._ He said, not particularly mad at Ms. Jackson but himself, for falling under her spell.

His cheeks and chin were still covered in stubble, and rubbed at it slightly, remembering how Penny had placed her hands there before she'd kissed him passionately.

His fingers ghosted over his lips, a bitter smile beginning to form there.

He turned away, no longer being able to look himself in the reflective glass.

He moved over to the shower, and got himself beneath the freezing spray.

He'd fallen captive to the beautiful siren of a woman, with no hope to escape.

She might as well put the chains around his wrists and throw him in her basement.

Better than having to face her on a day to day basis.

As he let the droplets of water run over him, he realized for the first time in his life, he didn't have an immediate solution.

And he didn't really understand what to do.

X

Okay, so there's that!

I'm moving back into a daily update mode, so look for the next update tomorrow!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was so-so, in my opinion. Could have been better.

Drop me a review, and please, give me any sort of suggestions or improvements, or things you would like to see happen in the story.

Thanks :) Have a great Sunday!


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